Leiden Comic Festival on July 11 and 12, 2025

For a whole month, numerous activities take place at various locations throughout the city during the Leiden Comic Festival. From an exhibition and drawing and cartoon workshops in the library, to a comic book pub quiz at Scheltema, and from films about comics at Trianon and the Kijkhuis, to a large multi-day comic book fair in the Hooglandse Kerk. The highlight will be the 1st Leiden Comic Book Festival on July 11 and 12, 2025, in the Hooglandse Kerk. Come one, come all, and discover a comic book fair featuring around 40 comic creators, 8 to 10 book presentations, more than 150 meters of comic market, publishers, associations, and dealers. There will also be a stage program, lectures, discussions, and a comic book auction. And a children's area with workshops and a comic drawing space.

Leiden Comic Festival organization

The organizer of the festival is Berny Boer. He has been a comic book enthusiast from a young age. “It started with Tintin, Thorgal, Rik Ringers, and Robin Hood.” He remains a great fan of graphic novels to this day. Boer is also professionally active in the world of comics. “I owned a comic book store for eight years. I currently work as a consultant, but I am also a publisher of comic books.” Boer notices that in the Netherlands, unlike in Belgium for example, attention to comics is lagging behind. “For me, that is one of the reasons to organize this comic festival.” The comic world has been struggling for years. Many comic book stores are closing their doors and the audience is aging. That is why I am organizing the Leiden Comic Festival.   Source: Sleutelstad.  

Leiden Comic Festival July 11 and 12, 2025

Large comic book fair on Friday, July 11 from 13:00 PM to 21:00 PM and Saturday, July 12 from 10:00 AM to 17:00 PM. In and around the Hooglandse Kerk, Leiden.

Comic book fair with: about 40 comic creators, 8 to 10 book presentations, more than 150 meters of comic market; publishers, associations, and dealers. Attendees include John Heijink (De Fatale Vonk), Daan Jippes (Donald Duck), Hanco Kolk (S1NGLE), Irene Berbee (Jan, Jans and the children) and Barthel Brussee (Dada in Leiden). Stage program; lectures, discussions, and a comic book auction. And a children's area with workshops and a comic drawing space.  

Leiden Comic: The Fatal Spark

Eight new comic albums will be released in connection with the Leiden Comic Festival. One of them, titled 'De Fatale Vonk' (The Fatal Spark), is about the gunpowder ship disaster at the Steenschuur, which claimed the lives of 151 people in 1807. “It was drawn by John Heijink based on a scenario written by Berny Boer. A number of panels from the album, but in large format, are now on display in the library.

 

The explosion of the gunpowder ship in Leiden (1807)

Everyone knows the Enschede fireworks disaster (2000), the Jan van Speijk gunboat explosion in Antwerp (1831), and the Delft gunpowder disaster (1654). But the people of Leiden know the history of the explosion of the gunpowder ship on January 12, 1807, at a quarter past four in the afternoon, during the French occupation. In that year, Leiden was the epitome of a city in decline. In 1675, Leiden still had over 65.000 inhabitants and a flourishing textile industry. By 1807, little of that remained. The population had more than halved, and during the French occupation, industry had been dealt a fatal blow.

A ship with a cargo of 37.000 Dutch pounds (= 17.760 kg) of gunpowder on board had entered the city from Ouderkerk aan de Amstel that morning and had moored at the Rapenburg. The oldest form is black gunpowder, which consists of a powder of sulfur (10%), saltpeter (75%), and charcoal (15%).

The ship exploded in the middle of Leiden in the Steenschuur, a canal extending from the Rapenburg. The disaster resulted in 151 deaths and over 2000 injured. Relief efforts got underway immediately after the disaster. The dead and wounded were recovered, and walls were shored up. A substantial reward of ten ducats was offered to anyone who managed to pull a survivor from under the rubble. Approximately 220 homes were completely destroyed or declared uninhabitable. Even in the furthest districts of Leiden, windows were shattered and roof tiles were blown off the roofs. The blast was heard in The Hague. The cause of the disaster is unknown. It is claimed that it was partly due to carelessness on the part of a crew member while cooking. Shortly before the explosion, a passerby saw potato peels being thrown overboard. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]            According to the Leiden chronicles: There was a hellish and brilliant light, then a white cloud visible above the houses of the Rapenburg, which expanded in jerks, after which a dull thud was heard with a strong rumble and at the same time the houses tottered, the walls split and collapsedone, transforming Leiden's cleanest city district into one gigantic, terrible mess, gruesome grave of a number of its citizens'. 

King Louis Napoleon arrived at the scene of the disaster after just five hours; he remained there for over a day. He wanted to help Leiden and assigned thousands of soldiers to rebuild the city. These soldiers were actually intended to stand guard on the beach against an English invasion. From his private fortune, the king made 30.000 guilders available for the disaster relief fund he had established, a considerable sum for that time. In return, Leiden was also exempted from taxes for the next ten years (through 1817). He ordered bakers in Delft to bake bread for the affected inhabitants of Leiden and sent his court surgeon to Leiden.

He also had Huis ten Bosch Palace converted into an emergency hospital. Louis the Good was summoned throughout Holland.

In addition, a national collection was held. Despite the dire economic situation, this raised nearly two million guilders in kind—including donations. Accurate records of the collection have been preserved. From this, we know that there were people who could spare more than 5000 guilders, which was a fortune at the time.

As expeditiously as work proceeded to clear everything up, the handling and reconstruction were slow and opaque. Rumors circulated that a great deal was being siphoned off and that some victims were inflating their damage claims excessively. It was not until 1833—26 years after the disaster—that the municipal government presented the accounts and held accountable.

A memorial obelisk was to be erected, and in November 1807 the design was ready: a 70-foot-high obelisk on granite with a gilded inscription in Dutch and Latin. Unfortunately, the monument was never realized. A memorial to King Louis can still be found at the Steenschuur. The explosion had partially destroyed the Catholic clandestine church located on the street. The church was restored by order of King Louis and dedicated to Louis's patron saint, Saint Louis. What are the parallels between the gunpowder ship disaster of 1807 and the destruction of the Primera store in Den Bosch in 2021?

1. King Louis Napoleon visited the scene of the disaster. Prime Minister Rutte called Ms. Maaike Neufeglise of the Primera on the same evening of the destruction. King Willem-Alexander visited Den Bosch the following day and spoke with Ms. Maaike Neufeglise (Primera) in her shop.
2. Money was collected directly in the past via a national collection, and now via Tikkies and via GeenStijl.
3. The Municipality of Leiden guaranteed the damage. Now it is a matter for insurance companies and the Public Prosecution Service to recover the damages from the rioters.

  Animation of the Leiden Gunpowder Disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JA40lcVuH8&feature=youtu.be NB. The explosion of the gunpowder ship in Leiden (1807) was previously published as part of another thematic blog.  

Leiden Peipie

Leids Peipie, an icon of Leiden's beer history. In the nineties, various editions were released to celebrate Leiden Comic Day. Each featured a different label, drawn by up-and-coming and (later) famous comic artists. And naturally, Leids Peipie is one of them, brewed in Leiden brewing kettles! The beer is available throughout the city, both on tap and in bottles. Leids Peipie is a delicious summer beer (as fruity as an IPA, but not as bitter as an IPA). Cheers!

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

Leiden Comic Festival, July 11 and 12, 2025: https://leids-strip-festival.nl/ Exhibition The Fatal Spark, Central Library Leiden, until August 25, 2025: https://www.bplusc.nl/activiteiten/agenda/expositie-de-fatale-vonk.html